Unlocking productivity: Embracing efficiency over bureaucracy

I’m sure it has happened to most of us: working under a tight project deadline while bureaucracy keeps us busy and makes us feel like we’re not making the best use of our time. Tight deadlines are common in projects — and so, unfortunately, is bureaucracy. But that shouldn’t be the case.

One major reason bureaucracy increases in projects stems from a lack of trust between parties. Projects don’t always go as planned — in fact, they rarely do. And when they begin to drift away from their original scope, additional layers of control are often imposed, as this is seen as the “right” corrective action. However, more control usually means more people involved in approval processes and more documentation. Yet adding extra steps to a process doesn’t necessarily mean adding more control — in reality, it often achieves the opposite.

When people feel trapped in an administrative maze, they naturally look for ways around it just to get things done. Ironically, bureaucracy often results in less control. It pushes individuals to divert from official procedures simply because no one likes to be micromanaged — and as countless studies have shown, micromanagement just doesn’t work.

Another root cause of bureaucracy lies in differing perspectives. Today’s workplaces are increasingly multinational and multicultural. It’s now easier and more common than ever to find teams made up of people from diverse backgrounds. The rise of remote, hybrid, and home working has amplified this, with teams collaborating across locations, time zones and cultures. While this diversity brings enormous benefits, it also introduces differences in how people perceive efficiency, control, and structure.

For example, if leadership is based in southern Europe, their approach may clash with the expectations of colleagues in northern Europe regarding how work should be organised and decisions made. Organisations can (and should) establish frameworks for how things ought to function, but in practice, successful implementation often depends on the teams themselves. Even within top-down structures, smaller teams typically define their own processes and ways of working — meaning that broad organisational rules don’t always have the intended effect.

As highlighted in the Harvard Business Review article How to Help (Without Micromanaging) by Colin M. Fisher, Teresa M. Amabile, and Julianna Pillemer, today’s teams need guidance, not control. Whatever the reason behind it, bureaucracy is rarely the answer. It slows progress, adds confusion and increases complexity — and if there’s one thing people universally dislike in the workplace, it’s unnecessary complexity.

So, what’s the solution? There are a couple of things we can do to promote efficiency:

Better use of the tools available to us – Let’s not just rely on how things have always been done.
A little more trust – Empower and motivate people by encouraging autonomy and setting clear expectations.
Stay organised – Focus on consistency and simplifying workflows.
Choose the right people for your team – Not everyone thrives in every environment.
Better transparency – Remove as much guesswork as possible.

The way we collaborate has evolved dramatically. Just five years ago, few of us could have imagined the seamless online interactions and virtual meetings that are now part of our everyday lives. If we expect clients to trust us enough to sign a contract after a few video calls and a website visit, then surely, we can extend a similar level of trust to the colleagues we work with every day.